A joke was intended by US President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters as he was on his way to inaugurate the new immigration detention center in Florida, the already infamous “Alcatraz with Alligators.”

“With Alcatraz with alligators, if an illegal immigrant escapes, do they just get eaten by an alligator or a snake?” asked the US president, Fox News reporter Peter Douchey asked. And he replied, jokingly, “I guess that’s the idea – it’s not an easy place to be at all. I guess that’s what it is.”

He went on giving…survival instructions, “You know, snakes are fast. But alligators… We’ll teach them (the detainees) how to run away from an alligator, okay? If they escape, how to run: Don’t run straight, run like this,” he said, making the characteristic zigzag motion with his hands.

“And you know what? Your chances of survival increase by 1%. Good luck!” he concluded!

Doocy: With Alliagator Alcatraz, is the idea that if some illegal immigrant escapes, they just get eaten by an alligator?

Trump: I guess that’s the concept. Snakes are fast but alligators-we’re going to teach them how to run

“Alligator Alcatraz,” which Trump inaugurated is an immigration detention center in the middle of the Everglades. Florida got federal approval just last week and the center is expected to open later this month with 5,000 beds – a number that will later double. Annual operating costs of $450 million will be covered by FEMA

The Department of Homeland Security wrote on Platform X that it is “working on cost-effective and innovative ways to mass deportations,” emphasizing that “Alligator Alcatraz” will be expanded immediately thanks to a partnership with Florida.

Critics of Trump’s harsh immigration policies call the detention center inside the Everglades swamps inhumane, but the Republican president not only didn’t flinch, but made sure to answer today at the opening ceremony. “A lot of alligator-shaped police officers-you don’t have to pay them that much,” Trump said at a press conference inside the new facility and continued: “I for one wouldn’t want to run around inside the Everglades for long. That will keep people where they need to be.”

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who greeted Trump at the airport, said: “We want to cut through the red tape to complete the removal of these illegals.”

Taking the floor again, Trump called the influx of illegal immigrants under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, “disgusting” and linked most of them to “sadistic” criminal gangs.

The nickname “Alligator Alcatraz” refers to the famous prison in San Francisco, which Trump recently said he wants to reopen – a plan that appears to have been “frozen”, however, as authorities deemed the cost and practicality prohibitive.

As part of the tough picture on immigration, the Trump administration is also sending some illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay, the once notorious “War on Terror” prison in Cuba.

Protesters against Trump’s immigration policies have gathered outside the new Florida facility in recent days and again today. Environmentalists have complained that the camp is being built in a protected area. Everglades National Park is an important habitat for alligators – an estimated 200,000 live there. When they become adults, they can grow up to as much as 4.5 meters long.

Alligator attacks on humans are relatively rare in Florida. Statewide, between 1948 and 2022, 453 “unprovoked bite incidents” were recorded between 1948 and 2022, of which 26 were fatal, according to the Florida Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. However, authorities use this danger to emphasize the “deterrent” power of the center.

Trump’s visit is also related to the “big beautiful bill”, which provides funding to intensify deportations, including the expansion of detention center locations.